France Will Use Swiss Bank Data in Investigation
France will continue to use data taken from a Geneva private bank in its drive against tax evasion, its budget minister said on Tuesday, a day after French officials agreed to share the client lists with Switzerland.
“Of course they can be used. The French judicial procedure will continue,” Eric Woerth told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to China with Prime Minister François Fillon.
Despite Swiss protests, French tax authorities have been using information secured from Herve Falciani, a former HSBC computer specialist, who has admitted stealing client data from HSBC’s private banking arm in Geneva.
On Monday, Paris agreed to return the data after Switzerland threatened not to ratify a tax treaty that would make it easier for French authorities to go after taxpayers who had salted away funds in Swiss bank accounts.
A Swiss finance ministry spokeswoman said on Monday the French move left a number of questions open and said these would have to be resolved between the two governments.
“The essential question is what France is prepared to do with the data,” she said.
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